Updated May 2023
Across 3 pages
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Greek
"all gifted"
Pandora has occasionally been used by the British gentry (for girls with brothers who might be called Peregrine) and is now starting to be heard in the US too: It was given to 34 baby girls last…
English, diminutive of Patricia
"noble, patrician"
This sassy, spunky name was used for the mostly Irish jump-roping pigtailed girls of the thirties and forties -- and some Irish and Italian boys as well. Its most noted bearer was iconic country…
Fruit name
Peach is one of those names that, a generation ago, would have been placed in the wacky celebrity baby name category. But now with the proliferation of word, nature, and yes, food names, Peach sounds…
Diminutive of Margaret, Greek
"pearl"
Just when we had written off Peggy as the eternal perky, pug-nosed prom-queen she projected from the 1920s into the fifties, along came Mad Men , with intriguing mid-century characters with names…
Latin
"traveler, pilgrim"
Peregrine is considered to be an elegantly aristocratic name in England, but has never made it to the US, where it has been seen as extravagantly eccentric. In the new naming climate, though, it's…
French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge
Percy is a traditional boys' name that could be cute and unexpected for a girl – perhaps as a short form for Persephone or Persis. Adventurous and literary Percy could follow in the footsteps of…
Flower name; Latin
"healing"
One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.
Swedish or Cornish
"fairy"
Pixie is a cute -- quite possibly too cute -- name that suddenly feels possible thanks to the craze for names that contain the letter x. Though its origin may be uncertain, a pixie is internationally…
British-born novelist Plum Sykes has taken this rich, fruity name out of the produce section and put it into the baby name basket. It's more appealing than Apple, more presentable than Peaches. The…
English
"peacock"
Hip new middle-name choice, conjuring up the gothic tales of Edgar Allan, and current single-named pop singer Poe. As a first name, it's radically underused, given last year in the US to only five…
"a bunch of flowers"
A sweet, nostalgic nosegay kind of name, Posy has been long fashionable in England, a country of gardeners, but this pretty bouquet-of-flowers name is still rarely heard in the US, though it could be…
Sanskrit
"the daughter of the mountain"
This Hindu goddess name is very popular in India. The goddess of love, fertility and devotion, representing female force, Parvati is the wife of Shiva and the mother of Ganesh. There is a Harry…
Word name
Peanut is a name you might call a baby in the womb, but at least one set of parents put it on the birth certificate too. General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher and his fiance Ehiku named their son…
Word name or short form of Pepper, English and Latin from Sanskrit
"the pepper plant"
Peppy is undeniably cute, but we bet that after a while the jokes aren't.
Diminutive of Piritta, Finnish
"strength; exalted one"
Cute and quirky nickname that stands on its own in Finland.
Native American, Blackfoot,or Greek, "golden eagle, or rock, stone"
"golden eagle, or rock, stone"
Too tightly tied to the acronym for the activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Finnish variation of Birgitta
A gentler form of Birgitta, linked to either Irish Bridget or Norse Birger, Piritta is a spirited Finnish name, which leads to short forms Pirjo, Pikko, and Pipsa.
English, word name
As the former stage name of TLC founder Perri Reid and the name of the youngest member of the animated Flintstones clan, it's got some pop culture cache. But it'll be too cutesy by half for most…
French
"bat"
French, English, Latin
"yokel"
Old French form of Petronilla borne by Perenelle Flamel (1320-1402), alchemist and wife of Nicolas Flamel. They are known for their quest to discover the philosopher's stone, a legendary substance…